The coordinates released by the Chinese agency would place the object in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, according to the BBC.

This area has been the main focus of the search, and is where the Boeing 777 last made contact on Saturday during its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that Malaysia would "never give up hope" of finding the plane's 239 passengers and crew, dismissing allegations that efforts were mired in confusion after a series of false alarms, rumours and contradictory statements.

"I don't think so. It's far from it. It's only confusion if you want it to be seen as confusion," he said at a press conference where military and civilian officials faced a grilling from journalists.

"I think it's not a matter of chaos. There is a lot of speculation that we have answered in the last few days," he said.

Six Australians and two New Zealanders are among the missing passengers.

The hunt for Malaysia Airlines plane now encompasses nearly 27,000 nautical miles (over 90,000 square kilometres) - roughly the size of Portugal - and involves the navies and air forces of multiple nations.

Criticism came when Malaysian authorities said they were expanding the search to the Andaman Sea, north of Indonesia, hundreds of miles away from the main search area after military radar detected an unidentified object early Saturday north of the Malacca Strait off Malaysia's west coast.

Air force chief General Rodzali Daud was quoted in a local pro-government newspaper as saying a military base had detected the Malaysia Airlines aircraft near an island in the Malacca Strait, far to the southwest of where it should have been headed.

The news injected even more mystery into the investigation of the jetliner's disappearance, with aviation experts theorising about how the plane could have strayed so far off track for so long.

But General Daud has since released a statement saying that while authorities have not ruled out the possibility the plane inexplicably changed course before losing contact, reports that it had been detected far from its planned flight path were incorrect

"So right now there is a lot of information, and it's pretty chaotic, so up to this point we too have had difficulty confirming whether it is accurate or not," China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said of accounts of the jet's course.

What happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370?
6:14

The general confusion and poor communication during the search has fuelled perceptions that Malaysian authorities are unable to handle a crisis on this scale and infuriated relatives.

Analysts said there were burning questions over what information - if any - Malaysia has gleaned from both military and civilian radar, and the plane's transponders, and over discounted reports it was later detected near Indonesia.

Last words: 'All right, good night'

The last radio transmission from the cockpit of the plane was "All right, good night'', Kuala Lumpur's ambassador to Beijing reportedly said during a meeting with Chinese relatives.

Iskandar Sarudin was speaking to passengers' relatives and friends at a Beijing hotel.

The official replied that the Malaysian military was assisting investigations "at a high level."

Pressed repeatedly on what information the military had given authorities, he finally replied that "now is not the time" to reveal it.

The exchange boosted theories among the families that there are ongoing secret negotiations with terrorists who had hijacked the plane.

Adding to this was the official's earlier statement that Malaysia hopes that the passengers are alive.

Meanwhile, authorities say they now have six reports of possible witnesses to the plane after they lost track of it, instead of five reported earlier.

Last words ... Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old Malaysian, was the pilot of the Malaysia Airlines plane that remains missing.Source: Supplied

Meanwhile, authorities have identified two passengers travelling on stolen passports and said it was looking less likely that terrorism played a part.

The possibility of a passenger somehow sabotaging the flight so their family could benefit from a lucrative insurance policy has even been put forward by Malaysia's police chief.

And further adding to the intrigue, the laid-back approach to security of one of the flight's copilots has also come under scrutiny after two women came forward to detail how he broke rules by inviting them into the cockpit during a flight in 2011.

It reportedly lost contact with air traffic controllers around 1.30am somewhere midway between the east coast Malaysian town of Kota Bharu and the southern tip of Vietnam, while flying at an altitude of 35,000ft.

Malaysian airspace activity

According to CNN, who cited an unnamed Malaysian air force official, the plane's transponder - which continuously transmits flight information - stopped working near the time flight controllers lost contact.

The Malaysian air force was said to have lost track of the aircraft's signal at about 2.40am over Pulau Perak - hundreds of kilometres away from where it should have been.

A live relay of commercial aircraft activity in the region - which can be seen above and scrolled through - clearly shows the crowded airspace through which the airliner must have flown if it did suddenly divert west.

Looking ... a helicopter crew member checks a map as the search goes on.Source: AFP

THE GRIEF GOES ON

The lack of information about its fate is leaving families and relatives increasingly grief-stricken and angry.

The wife of Paul Weeks, a 39-year-old mechanical engineer from New Zealand based in Perth's northern suburbs, said she was still clinging to the faint hope of a miracle.

"We are just waiting. You can think the worst, but in the back of your mind there is that possibility,'' Danica Weeks told 92.9FM in Perth.

"There is no conclusion to it."

The couple have a three-year-old son named Lincoln and a 10-month-old son named Jack, and Ms Weeks said attempting to explain her husband's absence to her sons was the hardest thing to cope with.

Desperate for news ... relatives of passengers from the missing flight in China.Source: AFP

"I had to bring it up with Lincoln, because he had not asked anything - I said to him 'You know Daddy has gone away ... and on the way Daddy got lost','' she said.

"And then I broke down. He is young and resilient - he said 'That is okay mummy, I will find Daddy'."

MEN WITH STOLEN PASSPORTS IDENTIFIED

Interpol released an image of two Iranians who were travelling with stolen passports on the jetliner.

After lengthy speculation about the intentions of the pair, they were eventually identified as 19-year-old Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad and 29-year-old Delavar Seyedmohammaderza.

Malaysia's Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, said Mehrdad was travelling on a stolen Austrian passport and was planning to meet up with his mother in Frankfurt, where he is believed to have planned to seek asylum.

Interpol said Seyedmohammaderza was using a stolen Italian passport and was also believed to be heading to Europe in a bid to start a new life.

Interpol secretary-general Ronald K. Noble said the two men travelled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports, then apparently switched to the stolen Austrian and Italian documents and boarded the plane at the same time.

He said he did not ask either man why they were in Malaysia but Mehrdad said he was heading to Europe to visit his mother because they were having family problems.

The two men were travelling lightly, although both had laptops.

It is believed their tickets were purchased by an Iranian man known as "Mr Ali."

"The last night when they were in my home they were talking on the phone for a long time," Mallaeibasir said.

"They were talking in Persian, in their room, and I heard them say 'OK Ali' like that in Persian. I didn't understand because it was like, five seconds. I went into the room to take water from my fridge and I came out and they said, 'Be quiet, we're talking.'"

"We are looking very closely at the video footage taken at the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), we are studying the behavioural pattern of all the passengers," Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a press conference.

He did not elaborate on exactly what this would entail however.

Illustrating the lack of concrete answers to the plane's disappearance coming from officials, Mr Bakar also put forward a theory on what may have happened.

"Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities," he said.

Malaysian airlines co-pilot behaviour investigated
0:44

Appearing on A Current Affair, a former passenger talks of her meeting with co-pilot Fariq Ab Hamid from the missing Malaysian airlines plane MH370. Courtesy: ACA Nine Network

news.com.au

11 Mar 2014

News

CO-PILOT SMOKED, TOOK PHOTOS

Investigations into the copilot of the flight have discovered he once invited a Melbourne tourist and her friend into the cockpit where he smoked, took photos and entertained the pair during a previous international flight.

In a worrying lapse of security, it's been revealed pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and his colleague broke Malaysia Airline rules when they invited passengers Jonti Roos and Jaan Maree to join them in the cabin for the one-hour flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur in 2011.

Ms Roos, who is travelling around Australia, told A Current Affair she and Ms Maree posed for pictures with the pilots, who smoked cigarettes during the midair rendezvous.

Horrible wait for news ... the media surround a Chinese relative of a passenger.Source: AP

"Throughout the entire flight they were talking to us and they were actually smoking throughout the flight which I don't think they're allowed to do," Ms Roos said.

Malaysia Airlines said it was "shocked" by allegations.

"Malaysia Airlines has become aware of the allegations being made against First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid which we take very seriously. We are shocked by these allegations," a statement by the airline said.

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